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Eagle Scout food drive project: Boone delivers

Boy Scout Tyler Peterson said Monday that he was very impressed with the quantity of food donations that Boone residents gave on Saturday for his Eagle Scout project.

Rightfully so.

When all was said and done – collected and sorted on Saturday night in his church – Peterson said he counted a total of 3,500 donations, mostly non-persishable food items mixed with a few hygiene products.

And that’s exactly what the scout, entering on Thursday his senior year at Boone High School, wanted: food, and lots of it.

Peterson, who will turn 18 in late September, had come up with the idea of a food drive in Boone for his Eagle Scout project. The recipient: the city’s Red Rocks Community Action Center and its nearly-empty food pantry.

The Troop 197 scout had asked Boone residents via flyers to leave non-perishable food or hygiene items on their doorsteps Saturday morning and he and fellow scouts, family members, church members and mentors Allan and Linda Tedrow, who guided him through the project, would pick them up.

Peterson, whose church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, sponsors his troop, also stationed a few of his three dozen volunteers in the parking lots of the Hy-Vee and Fareway grocery stores in town to collect donations.

“It went pretty well,” he said. “At first, when we started, there wasn’t too much stuff. I guess people put it out a little bit later (in the morning).”

Tyler said the volunteers that went out into the neighborhoods – in 10 to 12 vehicles – were first briefed on safety precautions, namely being aware of traffic and staying within sight of one another at all times.

“Mainly common sense stuff,” he said.

“We split the town into two areas and drove by and looked for things,” he said. “We laid it out of the floor of the church building and it started to pile up. About half came from (donations made at) the grocery stores and half from the people’s porches.”

“I have a master list of what we got,” he said. “It’s about 3,500 donations all together, mostly non-perishable food items. I felt really satisfied with it. I was pretty impressed with what we got.”

Peterson, who has two younger brothers and two younger sisters, will deliver the donations to Red Rocks Community Action Center on Wednesday night.

“We missed some people’s donations,” he said. “But they can call us and leave a message with their address and we’ll pick it up.”

“I want to thank everyone that made a contribution and all of the volunteers who helped pick it up,” he said.

Peterson said he wanted to thank the two grocery stores for making their parking lots available for the food drive.

“And Hy-Vee for their donation of lots of peanut butter,” he said.

Peterson will send a written report about his project to the Mid-Iowa Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which originally approved it. It is up to the council to decide whether or not to award him his Eagle Scout standing.

To have a donation picked up on a front porch, call (515) 432-4544 and leave a message with an address.